SICB Meeting Implementation of the Grand Challenges in Organismal Biology held in Seattle, WA

“组织生物学的重大挑战”倡议的总体目标是让科学家参与讨论，这些讨论将塑造未来的努力，创造新的研究重点，解决21世纪的科学和社会利益。综合与比较生物学学会(SICB)期刊《综合与比较生物学》上发表的一份白皮书中描述了这些重大挑战。他们认为“有机体”是我们对生物现象的理解在科学中扩展的关键交叉点，并从这种理解发展到满足社会的需要。确定了五个主要研究领域：1)了解有机体在生物-环境联系中的作用，2)利用生物体的功能多样性，3)分析生命和物理系统的综合方法，4)了解基因组如何产生生物体，5)了解生物体如何在形式和功能的稳定性以及所有生物体固有的变化动力学之间走钢丝。为了开始一场关于重大挑战的全国性对话，将于2010年1月在西雅图举行的SICB年会上举办研讨会。研讨会的参加者将包括《大挑战》论文的四名作者，以及除SICB及其姊妹学会以外的其他专业组织执行委员会的六名成员。参与者代表了不同的科学家群体，涉及性别、研究领域和在科学和工程领域代表性较低的群体的成员。小组成员将领导讨论，以确定重大挑战之间可能的交叉和协同领域，并将讨论各自学科在解决这些问题方面的作用。这次研讨会将产生一份“白皮书”，概述未来可能的研究方向，旨在刺激更多的国家对话，并由社区推动制定生物生物学的研究议程。

The overall goal of the "Grand Challenges in Organismal Biology" initiative is to engage scientists in discussions that will shape future efforts towards creating new research foci that will address scientific and societal interests in the 21st century. The Grand Challenges were described in a white paper published in Integrative and Comparative Biology, the journal for the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB). They identify the "organism" as the crucial intersection at which our understanding of biological phenomena expands within the sciences, and develop from that understanding to meet the needs of society. Five main research areas were identified: 1) understanding the organism's role in organism-environment linkages, 2) utilizing the functional diversity of organisms, 3) an integrated approach to analysis of living and physical systems, 4) understanding how genomes produce organisms, and 5) understanding how organisms walk the tightrope between stability of form and function on the one hand, and dynamics of change inherent to all organisms. To begin a national dialog about the Grand Challenges, a workshop will be held at the SICB annual meeting in Seattle, January 2010. The workshop participants will include four authors of the Grand Challenges papers, plus six members of executive boards of professional organizations other than SICB and its sister societies. The participants represent a diverse group of scientists with respect to gender, research area, and membership of groups underrepresented in science and engineering. Panel members will lead discussions to identify possible areas of intersection and synergy among the Grand Challenges, and will discuss the role of their disciplines in addressing these issues. This workshop will produce a "white paper" that outlines possible future research directions aimed at stimulating additional national conversations, and community-driven development of a research agenda for organismal biology.